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Hostsmith

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how Hostsmith ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you use our website and services at hostsmith.net.

General Information

We collect personal data to provide and improve our services, and to meet our legal obligations. You may refuse to provide some or all of your personal data; however, this may limit the ways in which we can interact with you, including providing you with our services.

Authentication and Account Data

Hostsmith uses Google OAuth for authentication. When you sign in, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from Google. We do not store your Google password. This data is used to identify your account and provide access to our services. The legal basis for this processing is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of a contract).

Data Storage Location

Hostsmith offers data residency in the United States and the European Union. During account setup, your data region is automatically assigned based on your location. Your hosted content and account data are stored in the assigned region. The legal basis for this processing is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

Log Files

When you access our website, we automatically collect technical data including your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring pages, pages visited, and date/time of access. This data is necessary for the provision and security of our website. The legal basis for this processing is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest). We do not link this data to individual users. Log data is deleted after the purpose of processing has been fulfilled.

Cookies

Hostsmith uses the following cookies:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential for the service to function and are set automatically. They do not require your consent under Art. 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive, as they are strictly necessary to provide the service you have requested.

  • Session cookie - an encrypted cookie that maintains your authenticated session.
  • Data routing cookie - stores your assigned data region (US or EU) to route requests to the correct infrastructure. Without this cookie, your requests cannot be directed to the correct data partition.

Optional Cookies

These cookies are only set with your explicit consent. You can accept or decline them via the cookie banner, and change your preference at any time. Your consent preference is stored in a cookie (hs_analytics_consent) that expires after 12 months, at which point you will be asked again.

  • Analytics consent cookie - stores your cookie consent preference (accepted or declined). Expires after 12 months.
  • Analytics cookies - used by Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website (see below). Only set if you accept analytics via the cookie banner. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent).

You can control cookies at the browser level. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent the service from functioning correctly.

Newsletter

We may provide the opportunity to subscribe to a periodic email newsletter. If you subscribe, your email address, IP address, and the date and time of subscription are collected and stored. We use Brevo (brevo.com (opens in new tab)) to manage newsletter distribution. The legal basis for this processing is Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent). You may unsubscribe at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions included in each newsletter. Upon unsubscribing, your data will be deleted promptly.

Third Party Services

We do not sell your personal data. We share your personal data with third parties only as described in this Privacy Policy or with your consent.

Google Analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA. Google Analytics uses cookies to analyze your use of our website. The information generated by these cookies is transmitted to and stored by Google. We use Google Analytics with consent mode enabled - analytics data is only collected after you provide consent via our cookie banner. You can find more information about Google Analytics and opt-out options at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout (opens in new tab).

Google OAuth

We use Google OAuth for user authentication. When you sign in, Google transmits your basic profile information (name, email, profile picture) to us. Google's privacy policy applies to the data Google collects during the authentication process: policies.google.com/privacy (opens in new tab).

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Our infrastructure is hosted on Amazon Web Services. Your hosted content and account data are stored in AWS data centers in the region you are assigned to (US or EU). AWS acts as a data processor on our behalf.

Deletion and Term of Storage

We process and store your personal data only for the time necessary to achieve the stated purpose and as permitted under applicable laws or regulations. When you delete your hosted content, it is removed within 30 days. As soon as the purpose for data storage is achieved, your personal data will be deleted consistent with applicable policies and regulations.

Your Rights as Data Subject

Under the GDPR, you have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you
  • Rectify inaccurate personal data
  • Request erasure of your personal data
  • Restrict or object to processing of your personal data
  • Receive your personal data in a machine-readable format (data portability)

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@hostsmith.net.

Changes to This Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. In the event of material changes, we will provide a prominent notice on our website.